LONDON — Envoys from Washington, Kyiv and European nations gathered for talks in the United Kingdom on Wednesday amid a new United States push to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, but a planned meeting of foreign ministers was postponed.
OVERNIGHT ASSAULT Firefighters try to extinguish a fire following a drone attack in the city of Poltava, central Ukraine, on April 22, 2025. PHOTO FROM UKRAINE’S STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE VIA AFP
The meeting in the UK capital London comes as US media reported that President Donald Trump is ready to accept recognition of annexed land in the Crimea Peninsula as Russian territory, and as fresh airstrikes shattered a brief Easter truce.
The reports said the proposal was first raised at a similar meeting with European nations in Paris last week. Trump has since threatened to “take a pass” on efforts to end the conflict unless progress is made quickly.
A Russian drone strike on a bus transporting workers in the southeastern city of Marganets killed at least nine people and wounded at least 30 more, the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor said on Wednesday.
Ukrainian authorities also reported strikes in the regions of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Poltava and Odesa.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy had been due to lead Wednesday’s meeting, but his ministry said the talks had been downgraded in a sign of the difficulties surrounding the negotiations.
“The Ukraine Peace Talks meeting with Foreign Ministers today is being postponed. Official level talks will continue,” said the Foreign Office.
‘Work for peace’
Keith Kellogg, the US’ envoy on Ukraine, is still expected to attend, along with Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron.
Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Wednesday he had arrived in London with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga, who was “likely” to meet Lammy.
“Despite everything, we will work for peace,” Yermak wrote on Telegram.
A Ukraine presidency source later told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the delegation would meet with Kellogg, and that “There will be more meetings with Europeans.”
Another US envoy, Steve Witkoff, will visit Moscow this week, the White House has confirmed, in what would be his fourth trip to the Russia capital since Trump retook office in January.
According to The Financial Times, President Vladimir Putin told Witkoff he was prepared to halt the invasion and freeze the current frontline if Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, was recognized.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded by saying, “A lot of fakes are being published at the moment,” the Moscow-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that his country was ready for direct talks with Russia only after a ceasefire.
The Kremlin has warned that it cannot rush into a ceasefire deal.
Trump promised on the campaign trail to strike a deal between Moscow and Kyiv in 24 hours but has since failed to secure concessions from Putin to halt his troops in Ukraine.
He said over the weekend he hoped an agreement could be struck “this week.”
US, French and British foreign ministers, along with a senior German official, met in Paris last Thursday to discuss events.
Trump ‘frustrated’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had presented a US plan to end the war, but no details were given. He also discussed the plan with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov during a telephone conversation after the Paris meeting.
Rubio and Trump have warned since the Paris talks that the US could walk away from peace talks unless it saw quick progress.
Trump “wants to see this war end… and he has grown frustrated with both sides of this war, and he’s made that very known,” his spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday.
Rubio had said in Paris last week he would go to London if he thought his attendance could be useful.
But Lammy wrote on X on Tuesday night that he had instead a “productive call” with Rubio.
“The UK is working with the US, Ukraine and Europe for peace and to put an end to Putin’s illegal invasion. Talks continue at pace,” he added.
